WELCOME TO MY CHRISTMAS BLOG!!

I go all out decorating our small townhouse for all Holidays but especially Christmas!

Every room in our home has a different Christmas Theme and Color Scheme!!

I prove that you do not have to live in a large home to have several Trees!

This blog is dedicated to All Things Christmas!!

Friday, December 21, 2012

The How, Where, When and Why of A Debbie-Dabble Christmas!!

Okay, so I decorate my whole house from top to bottom for Christmas and have 19 Christmas Trees, decorated either with lights or ornaments in some shape and form.....

I have been asked a lot of questions about this insanity of mine when it comes to Christmas so this is my Tell All Post!!

The HOW

Yes, I do work Full Time night shift. My full time schedule is 72 hours in a 2 week pay period so I do get 5 days off in 2 week pay period.

I also have 34 years seniority which grants me a lot of extra time off...... and I do mean a lot!
Pretty much between vacation time, personal days and holiday time, I get close to 40 extra days off a year.

Add a few days to a weekend off and you can really stretch it out.

Do I take my time off???
You bet your bottom Dollar I do!!!!!!
If I don't use it, I lose it!

SO I guess you can say that is part of the "HOW " in " How do you do it and work full time?"

Also, I do pride myself in being very organized.

Usually....
This year .......
Well,organization was thrown out the window...

I pack everything away according to room. So when I get out the decorations, I only take out the decorations for one specific room at a time.

Another question is, "How do you clean everything?"

I am a firm beleiver in Swifter dusters and all their products. But I do have a method to my maddness.

Yes, I do replace all or pretty much of all my "normal everyday things" with Christmas decor. Before I pack up all of the "normal" things, they are cleaned and packed into the storage boxes and tubs that the Christmas items were in for that room.

Then the whole room gets a good cleaning , pretty much like Spring cleaning.
After Christmas, the Christmas things are then cleaned and repacked up for next year.

Do I dwell on the cleaning????
NO!!!
As long as it is presentable.....
My mother worked outside the home and all she did was clean when she came home from work.
Did she spend much time with the family in the evenings?
No, she was too busy cleaning.
I vowed that that would not be me!

The next HOW question is "How long does it take you to put it all up and take it all down?"

I decorate over several weeks and start in October. It actually takes me less time to take it all down because I don't take it all down at once.

The outside gets converted to Winter decorations and many of the trees stay up and are re-decorated for Valentine's Day or Winter. This makes it easier rather than having to take everything down.

The WHERE...

The most frequently asked question I get is "Where do you store it all?"

The majority of decorations for all Holidays are stored up our attic, which is floored. I can walk around, hunch backed, up there without getting spiked in the back by the roofing nails. That is now, I can. It has taken me years to per- fect that! Many times I was spiked in the head and back.... OUCH!!!

The rafters form sections and either each Holiday or each room for Christmas goes into one section.

I also have storage under my stairs. Heavy things like my 2 Christmas villages, the ornament box for the Living Room tree and other heavier boxes are stored there so we do not have to haul them up the steps and then up the attic.

And we do have a Storage Shed which we rent since we do not have a basement. The outside decorations for each Holiday and the Trees are stored down there.

Yes, I do take the ornaments and the lights off the trees to store them. Then they are bagged and taken down the shed.
I always tell Joe that the neighbors must think that he killed me when he takes the bigger trees out to the SUV because they look like Body Bags....

The WHEN... .

Last year, I was really on top of things and had my entire upstairs decorated for Christmas by Oct. 31st!

Such was not the case this year and it was nobody's fault but my own.

I started decorating for Christmas this early when the Craft Fairs that I normally did in October were changed to November.

I was supposed to craft all Summer long for those Craft Fairs this year !!

Many of you do not know I am the Queen of Procrastination!!

I did not craft the entire Summer so, instead of decorating in October, I crafted my butt off!!.
Or at least , I wish I did.....
I surely could use a bit off the butt!!

I always try to be finished with the entire house by the weekend after Thanksgiving. That did not happen this year....
BUT it definitely WILL next year....
I learn from my mistakes.....

"When do you take it all down?"
I usually start the weekend after New Year's. And as I said before, not everything gets taken down.

The WHY...

Now that I have answered the practical questions, we move on to the WHY....

Below is a picture of me( don't you just love the hair, blame it on my sister) @ 9 years old , sitting next to my first tree and first attempt at decorating something for Christmas myself!

Sorry it is blurry!!

I begged my mother to take me to Woolworth's to buy brick paper and a 4 foot tree. I then covered my toy chest with the brick paper and cut out of construction paper, items to make it look like a fireplace ( see, I wanted one even then). I then decorated my little tree.

So you see, I started at a very early age!

I did this for the next several years until I had to stay in a dorm for my first year of Nursing School.
Yes, nursing school, not college.
I am showing my age!

I took my little tree with me and decorated my dorm room.

When I got married, the little tree came with me and I put it up in our bedroom , in addition to the Living Room tree.

When my sons were born, I added little trees for each of their rooms, which they later decorated themselves. We also had a 6 foot tree on a small platform with a train set in our Den, in addition to our Living Room tree.

So I never had just one tree in the house.

So now on to the question of "Why so many Trees?"

Did you guess????

You have been seeing the reason through out this entire post???

IT'S THE ORNAMENTS!!!!!!

LOL!!!!

I LOVE ORNAMENTS!!

As you have seen, I have a lot of them....

All different kinds....

I could not fit all my ornaments on one tree ....

I started collecting color schemes and themes and that lead to more Trees!!

Joe says we must have over 50,000 ornaments for all the Holidays.....

I keep telling him he is exaggerating!!

I think??????

I love Christmas and all it's decorations....

I think it is because, when I was a child, my parents always made Christmas a very special time of year...

My Mother cooked her heart out.

Being of Polish Descent, she made homemade pierogies for Christmas Eve Holy Supper and baked nut and poppy seed rolls. I helped her....
I did not like the poppy seed rolls because I always thought they were ants rolled up in the rolls!!!

LOL!!

She also baked lot of cookies..... And she also worked full time in a dress factory!!

My Dad was also a fantastic cook and he made his own Kielbasi. I used to help him too!!!

It was my Dad who loved to decorate......

I have inherited my love of Christmas decorations from him.....

So have I answered all of your questions?????

Oh!!

What......

One last question???

How long will I continue to do this????

Until I am physically incapable of doing it!

And

Has any of this been passed on??????

I just found out that my son, Jim, and his girlfriend Danielle, left up their Christmas tree up since last year after taking the decorations off it and Jim is the one who lights it every night!!!

He likes the Glow!!

Does that sound familiar???????

They are predicting snow here over night Christmas Eve into Christmas Day!!! It looks like we will be having a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!

This was so fun to read.I use to really go all out too.Now that Christmas is held at My daughters I have slowed down.I do miss it, in a way, but I also know how tired I use to get too.Enjoy ! Merry Christmas and God bless you and yours.Denise

Hi Debbie,What a wonderful post and the story of your love of Christmas decorating. I so enjoyed reading about how it all came to be. Everything is beautiful and your passion is inspiring.Yes, being organized is the key. I have a similar system for storage and it really helps to set up and take down.Your trees are all beautiful and you have a very special ornament collection.

Thank you for visiting me and coming over to many posts and catching up. It is always a joy to see you.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the new year.Hugs, CM

My big question was, where do you store it..Ah a large attic. I don't have a basement either. I can so understand why you love it. Each tree is so special and the picture of you in front of your Woolworths brick paper is adorable! Merry Christmas to you the boys and Joe!

Hi Debbie! Thanks for answering those questions because I was wondering all those things. Love all the Victorian ornaments you have. And your little girl photo of your decorated toy box is too cute! Have a blessed Christmas! Gina

Debbie, we have alot in common! I do the same thing: pack the everyday decor in the Christmas boxes, pack things for each room together, clean as I go, etc. I loved seeing the picture of you with your first tree. I think we DO pass soe of our obsessions along. I watched my daughter last night cleaning AFTER all the dishes were into the dishwasher and everything else out away. She even washed and dried and folded the tablecloth and napkins while we were all there, but I bet noone else noticed since she was watching movies with us and would just get up every so often. Thanks for sharing your story:) XO, Pinky

I love looking at all your ornaments they are all very pretty. The picture of you when you were young you were already good at decorating. It's funny you mentioned Woolworth. I remember my mother giving me and my sister money to shop there for each other. The only thing I could come up with for the amount of money was a ceramic cream bullfrog knickknack. I don't know why I bought my sister this but I did. lol. Take care, Darlene

Hi Debbie, I really enjoyed this post about the how and why. Although I don't have as much as you we do have similarities. I pack my Christmas decoration per room. I too clean before and then pack the everyday back in their boxes. My friends tell me all the time how organized I am. It really saves time in the long run. I'm sure you agree. You finish your decorating by the weekend after Thanksgiving and that's when I start. I told hubby that I know I will need to downsize some day. But hopefully not until I am at least 80. Thanks for sharing with Share Your Cup.hugs,Jann

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